This home is presumed
to have been built by John Joseph Jacobs, who migrated to Jonesborough
from Loudon County, Tennessee. It was occupied for a number of
years
byThomas and Catherine Emmerson.

According to
Hugh
Mottern, this photograph was taken on September 15, 1905. The
house
was owned by George Crumley Mottern at the time, who also owned a dry
goods
store on Cherokee St. In the picture, the two women on the porch
are Mrs. Nancy Keeble and Mrs. George C. Mottern. The two girls
at
the right are Lura Mottern and Maud Hensley. The boy in front is
Virgil Mottern.

Virgil was killed in
WWI
near Mazenheim, France on October 19, 1918. He was a railway
telegrapher
before entering the War and was a Sergeant in Company C, 105th Field
Signal
Battalion. He was killed while laying a line so his men could
rest,
and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross posthumously for his
heroism.

The baby on the far
right
is Dr. Hugh H. Mottern. Dr. Mottern was born in the house on
December
19, 1903. He was a nationally acclaimed food chemist for the U.
S.
Department of Agriculture."